Reference: Advent, Second
Morish
This is simply the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth, which naturally implies that He has already been here once. "Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . . . . and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin or apart from sin unto salvation." Heb 9:26-28. The 'second advent' therefore is clearly a scriptural expression. Scripture speaks of many momentous and solemn events connected with the second coming of Christ which will be found under the different headings connected with this subject.
There are two aspects of the coming of the Lord Jesus which should never be confounded, namely, His coming for His saints, and His coming with His saints. These events may be thus illustrated. Suppose a large town or province revolted from allegiance to its sovereign, and refused to acknowledge his authority. After many warnings the sovereign raises an army to punish the rebels; but he knows that in that city there are many true subjects who loyally acknowledge his title and claims. When approaching the city he secretly calls out all those loyal ones, who gladly go out to meet him. He storms the city, and entering with those that have already joined him, he punishes the rebellious, and rewards those that had been faithful. Now, as the coming of the sovereign would be a day of joyful deliverance to one class, so it would be followed by judgement on the others. We find both these aspects of the coming of the Lord Jesus plainly revealed in the scripture. 1Th 4:15-18 speaks of Christ coming for His saints to their everlasting joy; and Jude 1:14-15 speaks of Christ coming to execute judgement on His enemies. Another distinction to be noticed is that when Christ comes for His saints, including both the living and the dead, He will not actually come to the earth for them. The above passage in 1 Thessalonians says that the saints will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This is often called the RAPTURE. It will be a meeting far too sacred for the eyes of the wicked to behold
